Persona 5: Aftermath
by Rin de Tong Nou
Summary: Nearly 10 years after the events of the game, Sojiro Sakura's untimely death brings the former Phantom Thieves back together again, seemingly for good this time. But, when a new threat appears to destroy the world, can the heroes band together to stop it, even without the power of their Personas? **Contains Spoilers for the game** Chapters 5-8 now available to read.
1. Chapter 1: Boss

**Part 1**

As Ren Amamiya stepped off the airplane, the familiar scent of the city of Tokyo filled his nostrils. The scent of car exhaust, pollution, ash, and strangely, in the distance, cherry blossoms. It was a scent he hadn't smelled in quite some time. It filled him with many memories. He couldn't help but smile, despite his heavy heart. He only wished that he had been able to visit on better terms.

"I can't believe he's dead…" He thought to himself as he grabbed his bag from the conveyor belt. He reached into the pocket of his stylish sport coat to touch a piece of paper, a letter. He had read it a few times now, the scribbled, jumbled handwriting. It smelled of coffee and the warm, familiar scent of Sojiro Sakura's curry. Futaba Sakura, Sojiro's adopted daughter had sent it to him. Ren thought it was odd, considering how tech-savvy she was, but he supposed that she was hurting just as much as he had been.

Boss was dead.

Ren still was shocked at such a thought. As he exited the airport, he had to repeat the words in his mind just to believe it. He had never felt so helpless as he had when reading the letter Futaba had sent. Why hadn't she just emailed him about it? Or called him, even? She had his phone number, his Skype, his Social Media, everything. Anything she didn't have, she could find with great ease. It didn't make sense.

As he walked to the train station to catch the train to Shibuya, then to the all too familiar Yongen-Jaya station, his mind wandered back on the memories of this place. It had been nearly 9 years since he had been the leader of the infamous "Phantom Thieves of Hearts." 9 years since he and his friends had changed the world.

He spoke to the woman at the reception desk in the train station in his native japanese, which surprisingly came back to him easier and more fluid than he had thought it would. After graduating from high school, he had decided on a whim to move to the United States. He graduated from University with a degree in journalism, and quickly got a job as a journalist for one of the largest news companies in Los Angeles, California. He had hardly spoken japanese in the 7 years he'd lived in the US, basically only in rare calls home and, more frequently, with Sojiro.

The Phantom Thieves had grown apart. Life got busy, Ren supposed. They all had kept in touch and remained close for a good while, but Makoto Niijima and Maru Okumura had graduated and went to University, closely followed by Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, and Ryuji Sakamoto. Life got busy after that. Even Ren, eventually, stopped talking to Futaba, the youngest of the group, once he'd moved. He didn't even know what had happened to Morgana, their "cat" friend, after he'd moved and entrusted his care and friendship to the Sakura's.

Making his down the dank streetway, turning the familiar right at the old man's thrift shop, he stopped in front of Cafe Leblanc. The sign said "closed." The scent of coffee seeped through the door, though it appeared to be waning. The scent of Boss' famous curry was just barely detected.

Ren took a deep breath and pulled on the door. To his surprise, it opened. He had been sure it would be locked. The bell rang. The place appeared abandoned.

"Hello?" Ren called out through the still air. He heard light footsteps upstairs, followed by a loud banging sound, as though something had been dropped. He rushed up the stairs to the place that he had once called home.

"Ren, is that you?" A familiar voice asked. The femanine voice was somewhat nasally, but very confident. He smiled as his eyes met a familiar pair of glasses, adorned by long, orange hair.

Futaba rushed him, hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms lightly around her, not wanting to hurt the small, pale girl

"I guess she's not a girl anymore…" He thought to himself. After all, she _was _24 now. These thoughts escaped his mind though, when he started to feel a wetness on his shoulder where Futaba was resting her head. She was crying.

He hugged her tightly for a long time, not saying anything. He was unsure of what he could even say to try and comfort the poor girl. She had lost her father, basically. Ren honestly felt the same way. Boss had been like a father to him, while he had lived here. Even after, Ren admitted. Boss helped him pay his way to the United States, sent him birthday and christmas presents, even called him occasionally. Sojiro was the only one in Tokyo who still spoke fairly frequently with Ren.

"Futaba, I'm so sorry…" He said quietly, as words finally formed in his mind.

"I just… really miss him."

"I know… I miss him too…"

She finally let go of the skinny young man. The two appeared the same as when they had last seen each other, but there was a mature air about them.

"Where's Morgana?" Ren asked, eager to both keep Futaba talking and to see his dear friend.

"He's at the house." Futaba said, whipping her tears and changing her tone slightly, "He's taking Sojiro's death pretty hard too. Maybe even harder than I am… I think we should go see him. You'll cheer him up a little, I think."

Futaba and Ren made their way over to the Sakura residence. Despite the circumstances of his being back in Tokyo, Ren couldn't help but feel nostalgic at everything. It appeared as though nothing had changed. The clinic was still there, as was the movie theater the Phantom Thieves had saved. It was as though everything had frozen in time when he left.

Morgana was laying on Futaba's bed in Sojiro's house. Despite still being a cat, Ren could tell that he was pretty down. He'd basically loved Boss since moving in with Ren, and Boss had really grown to love him.

"Morgana?" Ren asked, clearing his throat to get Morgana's attention. The black cat lifted his head slowly and turned quickly to meet his gaze. Upon seeing his old friend, his whole demeanor shifted instantly.

"Joker!" The cat cried in a voice filled with joy. He leapt into the young man's arms. Ren was barely able to catch him in surprise. The cat rubbed Ren's face with the top of his head, purring and meowing incomprehensibly.

"Hey Pal," Ren said, smiling at the use of his old Phantom Thief codename, "How are you holding up?"

The cat stopped and pulled his head back, so that he could make eye contact with Ren.

"Much better, now that you're here." He replied, smiling and purring.

"We can go back to Leblanc and get some coffee." Futaba suggested, "I think there's some leftover sushi for you in the fridge there, Mona-chan."

"Sushi?!" Morgana asked in surprise. "Yes! Fatty tuna!"

Ren couldn't help but laugh. It seemed Futaba and Morgana hadn't changed a bit. He was happy to be with them again. For the first time in a long while, Ren felt happy. He didn't even realize that he hadn't been happy.

**Part 2**

As Makoto Niijima ran down the dark alleyway, she felt a familiar feeling: a rush of adrenaline, the "Wings of Rebellion." That was probably her favorite thing about her job. The man she was pursuing, a tall, middle-aged man, was not in as good of shape as she, and therefore was much slower. His heavy breathing was panicked as he realized she was quickly gaining on him.

He grabbed a trash bin left in the alley and threw it on the ground, hoping to slow her down just enough to make his escape. He was wrong, of course. Makoto vaulted over the obstacle with ease. She caught up to the man and jumped, crashing down on his back.

The pair rolled and sprawled onto the ground. Makoto jumped back to her feet quickly.

"Toro Kosume, you're under arrest!" She shouted with authority. The man stumbled back to his feet, but rather than accept his defeat, he chose to fight.

He swung his fist wildly at her, his eyes filled with rage. This, of course, caught Makoto off guard as he struck her in the chin. She stumbled, but quickly regrounded herself as she jumped into a fighting stance. The metallic taste of blood touched her tongue and her vision wasn't terribly clear, but she still felt confident that she would win.

The burglar swung again, but this time, she intercepted it with both her forearms. She shoved his arm away and shoved him back. He staggered, and she took advantage of this weakness. She spun around, swinging her leg behind her, and kicked the man hard in the left side of his face with a spinning back kick. He slammed onto the ground hard, groaning with pain. Makoto pressed a knee onto his back and pulled both his arms behind him, handcuffing the man as she did.

"This is Niijima," She said somewhat cheerfully, while trying to maintain a serious tone, on her walkie talkie, "I got him."

"Nice work, Officer," A warm male voice replied on the radio. "We are near your location, hold him down till we get to you."

"We won't have to worry about that." She told him, inspecting the fallen criminal, "It seems like he's out cold. Don't worry though, he was resisting arrest."

"Hey, I'm not worried." The voice said teasingly, "It just means more paperwork for you."

She couldn't help but smile, despite the pain she now felt in her chin. Her boyfriend, Ezume Toyoda, was the man she'd been talking to on the radio. He was also a police officer, and the pair worked together quite well. They'd only been dating for about a year now, but Makoto knew that he would propose to her any day now. She was on the lookout for anything special he had planned in the near future.

Back at the station, Niijima filled out paperwork at her desk. She drank her bitter coffee and smiled to herself. She was excited to get home to Ezume, who had left shortly after they'd returned, which she was ok with. It only meant that it was his turn to cook dinner for her. As she rubbed her eyes tiredly, her cell phone started to ring.

"Probably just Ezume wondering how long I am going to be…" She thought to herself as she pulled her smartphone from her pocket. "Or maybe Sis, wanting to get lunch tomorrow."

The caller ID, however, was not Ezume. Nor was it her sister, Defense Attorney Sae Niijima. Nor was it anyone she had _expected _to call her. Instead, it was someone she hadn't even thought about in quite some time: Futaba Sakura.

For some reason, she was hesitant to answer. She wasn't sure why. Though Futaba-chan had always been quirky and a little… forward, Makoto honestly thought of her as a friend. Maybe even somewhat of a little sister. Despite how she felt though, her want to just finish the paperwork and get home, she answered the phone.

"This is Niijima." She said authoritatively. She cringed slightly at how she answered the phone though. This was Futaba, a friend, not some random stranger.

"Mako-chan!" Futaba's confident voice rang out from the other line, "Did you see my email?"

"No, I haven't checked my email in quite some time." She admitted, smiling. All sense of regret from answering the call washed away when Futaba spoke, "How are you?"

"Well if you had read the email, you would know." The girl said seriously, even somewhat annoyed that Makoto had the _gall_ to not check her email, "Sojiro died."

"What?" Makoto asked, quite shocked at this news, "When?"

"A number of weeks ago. The funeral is being held tomorrow. I just thought you would want to know."

"Wow…" Makoto said on the phone. She slumped back in her chair, surprised. Boss was dead? It was so unexpected. "Why are you having the funeral so late?"

"That's part of the reason I called you." Futaba said, her tone changing from serious to somewhat amused, "We were waiting for Ren to get here. Get down to Leblanc right now. He's making Sojiro's Curry and we are talking about the old days. Get Ryuji as well. He lives pretty close to you. I can send you the address if you didn't know that."

"As much as I would like to," Makoto admitted, "I can't. I have to fill out paperwork for my job and then get home. My boyfriend is making dinner."

"Boyfriend?" The girl asked on the phone, clearly surprised, "_You_ have a boyfriend?"

Makoto felt her blood get hot, but she calmed herself.

"That's just how Futaba is, Makoto, you know that…" She told herself.

"Yes Futaba-chan," She said, laughing off the girl's comment, "I have a boyfriend now."

"Mako-chan, please come! We can't get a hold of Ann, Ryuji, or Maru-chan. Pleeeaase?"

"Sorry Futaba, I can't make it. But I will see you tomorrow at the funeral. Goodbye."

Makoto felt a little guilty for hanging up on her like that, but the girl was a little overbearing at times. She knew what Futaba was going through. She had lost her father, as Makoto and Sae had years ago. She would definitely make an effort after the funeral to hang out with her and… Ren.

Ren was back.

Makoto had a hard time concentrating on her paperwork after that thought. Ren Amamiya had been a transfer student at Shujin Academy her third year of high school. He had a lot of nasty rumors about him, but she had gotten to know him very well when she became one of the Phantom Thieves. He was… something else. She knew it too. He was smart, kind, clever, charming, brave, handsome, and had a slamming body, despite his skinniness.

"Everything a 'Gentleman Thief' should be…" She smiled to herself.

Back when she was a Phantom Thief, she had crushed on him pretty hard after finding out who the real Ren was. Not that he knew that, of course. He didn't know anything about her crush. Last she had heard, though, he had moved to the United States. He was back for the funeral.

"Ren is back…" She thought to herself mindlessly. She didn't even try to turn her mind to the paperwork or even her boyfriend for that matter. Ren was back. She felt irritated at herself that she hadn't accepted Futaba's invitation.

What was she saying? She _had _a boyfriend. Ezume was sweet and nice and hot as hell. He was good to her and loved her. Why did she need some high school crush?

"Because he's a Phantom Thief." She answered to herself quietly. Sure, Ezume was good to her, but he wasn't Ren. He wasn't… Joker. The Mysterious Masked Thief in a Black Trench Coat. Cool, calm, collected; he was a living smirk 99% of the time. It drove her wild.

She couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous she was being. That wasn't _really _Ren. Ren couldn't fight or climb or shoot a gun. Not like Joker.

"No…" She thought to herself, correcting this stream of thought, "That _is _really Ren. The Ren who everyone at Shujin knew wasn't _really _him. He is Joker."

"God…" She said aloud, clearly flustered by the familiar emotions that flooded her rebellious heart, "What am I doing?"

What was she doing?

She could almost hear her persona in her mind.

_I am thou, thou art I..._


	2. Chapter 2: The Velvet Room

**Part 1**

Yusuke Kitagawa was an artist. He lived and breathed art. At least, that's what all the magazines said. He liked the idea though, to say the very least. His latest piece, which was still yet to be finished, would be a masterpiece. His "Sayuri."

When he was born his mother, a very talented painter in her own right, painted a picture that would make him want to be an artist later. The painting depicted a woman holding a child. In his opinion, it was one of the greatest paintings anyone had ever seen. Of course, only a handful of people had seen the real _Sayuri_. Yusuke's former mentor, Ichariyusai Madarame, had stolen the painting when Yusuke's mother died and altered it, removing the child in his mother's arms.

When they had invaded Madarame's cognition, his "Palace," the Phantom Thieves stole the original, or rather, how the _Sayuri_ had been in its original form. It now hung in Leblanc, the cafe that Sojiro Sakura owned. Or rather, _had_ owned. Yusuke couldn't believe he was gone.

As he made his way down the alley to the _Sayuri's_ resting place, it started to rain slightly, which didn't surprise Yusuke at all. It was… fitting. Poetic, even. He felt good that it rained on the day before the funeral. He hoped it would rain on the day of the funeral as well.

As he opened the door and made his way into Cafe Leblanc, a mouthwatering scent penetrated his nostrils.

"Gah!" He cried out, nearly collapsing to the ground, "It can't be!"

Despite the stares of his three friends in the room, he stumbled his way back to the kitchen and smelled the pot that Ren was stirring.

"It IS!" He cried in joy, "I thought the miracle of the curry was lost, but I had forgotten that there is another who carries on the great… genius! The art of Boss' curry!"

"Good to see you to, Inari…" Futaba mumbled as Yusuke allowed himself to collapse into one of the booth seats of the cafe.

"Futaba, Ren, my friends. Oh and Morgana too." He said, ignoring the Girl's teasing, "My, it is like a grand reunion. Where are the others?"

"We um… haven't been able to get a hold of them. Well, we did get through to Makoto, but she was… busy. I guess." Ren replied while he stirred the curry.

"Busy? With what? More busy than me? Doesn't she know that I am a famous artist!"

"Don't be dramatic, Inari." Futaba teased, "What do you even do most of your day now? It's not like you paint _all _the time."

"I do spend a significant amount of my time painting, but also I think about what to paint and talk to people about my art."

"Sounds like you're living your dream." Ren replied casually, smiling as he did. "Curry's almost done."

"I believe all of the former Phantom Thieves are living their dreams." Yusuke added, smiling, "Takamaki-san is a world famous model. I believe she has a big role in an upcoming movie as well. Makoto is a police officer. Haru Okumura completely changed her father's company around, recently winning an award for one of the best and most humane companies."

"I knew that one." Rin interrupted, "One of my most read stories was about that."

"Right, I had heard you were a journalist now. In the United States, correct? No wonder your japanese is horrid now."

Rin felt his face go hot, but Yusuke and Futaba just laughed. Morgana jumped up onto the bar of the restaurant.

"As much as I like making fun of this guy," The cat hissed, "I am STARVING. Can we please just shut up and eat?"

The other three just laughed as Ren poured the curry into bowls.

**Part 2**

"Ann-chan, look here!"

By instinct, Ann Takamaki looked towards the voice. Big mistake. A camera flashed, followed by a barrage of other flashes.

Great…

She smiled and waved as she tried to hurry to the waiting car.

"Ann-chan, are the recent rumors about you and American co-star, Ethan Hawk true? Are the two of you seeing each other?"

"No comment." She replied coldly, brushing her long blonde hair from her face. She shouldn't have said anything. She rushed even faster to the car and got in before anyone else could ask her a question.

"Oh god," She groaned to her best friend and personal assistant, Shiho, "I never thought I would say this, but I am _soo_ sick of this damn movie…"

"Why though?" Shiho asked, smiling, "You are doing exactly what you wanted AND you've met the hottest guy in the world. Seriously, I think you might be the luckiest girl."

Ann smiled at her best friend. That was Shiho, always looking on the bright side.

"Speaking of the 'hottest guy in the world,'" Ann replied, teasing her friend a little, "Did I get any messages?"

"Yeah, two. One from him. Want me to read it?"

"Yes girl, tell me!"

Shiho laughed at Ann's giddiness, but pulled the other girl's phone from her bag.

"It says: 'last night was great, when can I see you again?'"

Ann groaned again.

"What is it, hun?" Shiho asked, clearly confused, "Wasn't he good?"

"It was fine… well, he was good, but he's just so… boring."

"What do you mean? He's hot, a movie star, and he likes you, like, a lot. What could be boring about that?"

"I don't know. Like, read the text. There's no passion, no creativity. Literally Shiho, the best part of our relationship, if you can even call it that, is the fact that we are hiding it from the public."

"I guess I can understand that, girl," Shiho said sympathetically, "You've always liked boys who had a bit of… mystery to them. Whatever happened to that one boy you dated in high school?"

Ann knew instantly who Shiho was talking about, but she decided to play dumb.

"What do you mean?" She asked, "Which one?"

"Yeah, like you dated more than one boy in high school…" She replied sarcastically, "You know… in second year. The criminal. Dark hair, glasses, mysterious."

Ann blushed and smiled at the ground. She shook her head and returned her gaze to her friend.

"What about the other message? You said I had two?" She asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Aren't you going to reply to Ethan's?"

"Not right now. Just read me the other one."

"The other one is weird. I don't even know how they got your number. I also couldn't reply. I got a weird message about how the person didn't exist in messenger. It's from someone named 'Alibaba.'"

"Wait, Alibaba?" Ann asked, suddenly very interested in the other message, "What does it say?"

"Jeez, Ann," Shiho said, now VERY confused, "It is a really weird message. It says: 'Boss is dead. Been trying to reach you for weeks. Funeral is tomorrow.' Then it says an address to a cemetery."

Ann was shocked. She didn't know what to do. She started to cry silently. Tears streamed down her face, stained black by her eyeliner. Shiho instantly took notice and hugged her friend tightly, though she was unsure what she was crying for.

Ann would be sure to make it to the funeral. She owed it to the old man.

She just couldn't believe he was dead.

**Part 3**

There was no sunlight. Ren remembered sunlight in the large attic room in the morning. He had stayed in for nearly a year. He opened his eyes, surprised by an all too familiar sight. A ceiling made of blue velvet. He was on a cot, like in a jail. He sat up from the cot, looking down at his clothing. He had been expecting to see white and black stripped prisoner's clothing.

He had expected wrongly.

Ren was dressed in all black. A black three piece suit, a black shirt, and a black tie. He stood up, and was face to face with a very familiar man, if you could even call him that. Ren wasn't sure if he was even human.

"Welcome back," The Long-nosed man said, "to the Velvet Room."

"It has been… some time, Igor." Ren replied.

"Agreed. I also thought that the last time we saw each other would indeed be the last time." Igor replied, standing up from his desk in the middle of the room. "Unfortunately, Fate has another role for you to play, my Trickster."

"I thought that we destroyed the metaverse when we killed Yaldabaoth. That was supposed to end it all."

"It did end it all." Igor told him, smiling somewhat painfully, "It ended the threat of the metaverse and all that came with it. However, cognitions, and the threats of the metaverse that came with it, are not the only hazards in the universe."

"What do you mean?"

"My boy, did you think that such an event as the coming end of the world is a singular event?"

"I suppose I just thought that we took care of it." Ren replied casually.

"As did I. I mistakenly assumed that I would not have to call on you or your friends ever again. I thought that you had finished your role in the fate of the universe, and could now live out your life in peace. It pains me to ask you once more, but it appears the fate of the universe once more lies in your hands."

Ren sat back down on the bench behind him, completely shook. He felt a series of feelings. Grief, overwhelmed, stressed, but also… excitement. Anticipation even, at the threat to come. Despite the pit he felt in his stomach, he couldn't help but smile. He heard Igor chuckle, and another voice, a girl's: Lavenza.

"Master…" She said, gravely, "Should I give it to him now?"

"One moment, Lavenza. I have more to say to him."

Ren heard steps walking toward him. He raised his head to meet Igor's penetrating gaze.

"My Trickster," Igor said, seriously, "If you accept this task, I cannot guarantee that you or any of your friends would survive. I cannot even guarantee your powers will work. It will take a true and committed heart to use your Persona in the real world."

"The real world…?"

"Yes, my friend. This threat will come to you in the real world. That is why you must be fully committed to this cause… You are our only hope."

"What is the threat?"

"Even I cannot say at this time. Just know that the Phantom Thieves may be the only one who are able to stop it."

The girl Lavenza stepped towards Ren, cradling something in her hands. She seemed sad and disheartened, but she extended the object to Ren. It was a mask. His mask, to be specific. It called to him. He felt drawn to it.

Slowly he extended his hand. He placed the mask on his face, and heard the voice.

"Let us at this time, renew the vow we made years ago, to rebel against the end of the world. For I am thou, and thou art I…"

"Arsene…" He whispered, as he tore the mask from his face.

Ren woke up in a cold sweat. It was raining outside. In the distance, he heard thunder. He rubbed his face, where the mask had been in the Velvet Room. He felt nothing.

Had it just been a dream? Possibly, but it felt too much like before. Not quite a dream, but something… more.

His phone said it was about 2:30 AM.

He decided he needed some water. He walked quietly down the stairs and found a glass drying on the drying rack from earlier. He filled it up, drank it, then filled it up again. That's when he saw the journal.

His old journal that Sojiro had given him when he first came to Tokyo. It was originally intended so that Sojiro could report on Ren's activities a lot easier at the end of his probation back when he was a teenager. However, Ren had learned to love journaling, and wrote often about their adventures as the Phantom Thieves. That was probably why he decided to become a journalist.

When he picked up the small book, he saw the pages were worn. Sojiro had clearly read this quite often. Ren wiped a tear that ran down his face. How could he be dead?

"I really do miss you, Boss…" He said aloud, "I'm sorry I didn't come by more often."

He turned quickly through the pages, scanning one or two occasionally. It was quite the story. All of the Palaces they had raided. Ryuji's issues with the track team, Ren's relationship with Ann, Yusuke's creative block, the whole story was there.

There was a page missing though. The very last entry. If he was being completely honest, Ren didn't even really remember what he had written there. He knew it hadn't been like a book, a graceful ending to a well-written story, but he had written something reflective.

He shook the small book, hoping that Boss had maybe accidentally torn the page out, but folded it back in at some point. A piece of paper lodged in the pages did fall out, but it was a different color than the cream leaves of the journal. Ren picked it up and started to read.

"Hey kid," The note began, clearly written by Sakura-san, "I don't really know how to tell you this because, well, I am not even sure if it will happen, but I think I am going to die soon. I suppose any police reports will say that I died of natural causes, but I want you to know that is not the truth.

"You can't tell Futaba, promise me you won't. Who knows what she will do… Honestly, to hide it from her will be hard, which is why I wrote this down on paper instead of telling you over the phone.

"You're probably wondering how I know that I am going to die. I can't go into great detail without putting Futaba in too much danger, but it has to do with Wakaba's research. You see, about two years ago, I was approached by two men claiming to be government agents. They asked me some very specific questions about obscure parts about her research. I refused to give it to them, of course, after the whole Phantom Thieves incident, so they threatened me. I know they are going to come back, but I don't plan on letting them get the notes they asked for without a fight. There's too much at stake.

"I know it's a lot to ask kid, but I figured since you're a reporter and all, you could look into it. And please, take care of Futaba when I am gone. It would mean the world.

"With love, Sojiro"

Ren hadn't realized he was trembling until he finished the note. It was scrawled quickly, the handwriting was messy. Sojiro had been expecting these "government agents" to come soon. What was Ren supposed to do? After all, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing anymore, knowing the truth.

Suddenly, he heard a rush behind him. He dropped the note and spun, raising his fists awkwardly to at least feign like he was prepared for a fight.

There was nothing, only shadows. Even when he flashed his phone light on the darkness, it was only the kitchen. He took a few steps towards the attic, but heard a sound behind him again.

As he spun again, his phone rang loudly. He cried out, a loud, feminine screech, and fell on the ground. Thank God no one had been around to hear that…

He retrieved his phone a few feet from where he had fallen and looked at the brightly lit caller ID. It was his boss, Jackie Liebstein.

"This is Amamiya." He said in a hushed tone as he answered. English, surprisingly, felt refreshing to his tongue as he spoke to his boss.

"Amamiya, where are you? Why aren't you at work yet?"

"I told you," He said respectfully, "I am in Japan for a few days. Had a close relative die."

"Didn't you get my email?" She asked, aggravated, "We need you back here ASAP. The Governor had a huge affair scandal and we need you to cover it."

"C'mon Jackie," He moaned, "Funeral is today, I just need a few more days here. Gotta get stuff in order."

"Look, Amamiya, you're a good reporter, which is why you need to get back here right after the funeral. This could be your big break. I'll book you a flight for 6:00 PM in Tokyo tonight. I'll pay for it and everything."

"I get that you need me back, but something's come up and I need to stay for a week, two weeks max. I promise I'll be right back after that."

"If you aren't on a plane back to California tonight, you're fired." She spat, changing her tone suddenly. Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"I'm not coming back today. Maybe at all, if you want to fire me. I quit."

"You're gonna regret this, Ren. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you're going to give up on me, I am gonna give the story to someone else."

"Bye, Jackie." He said as he hung up. He sighed and pressed his face into both his hands. He suddenly felt tired.


	3. Chapter 3: Not Broken, but Weakened

**Part 1**

It rained lightly. Perfect funeral weather. Not that anything about a funeral was perfect. Rain was unusual this time of year though. Of course, no one ever thinks that a funeral is usual.

The six friends stood close, Ren carried Mogana in his bag. It was cold. It felt dark. At the end of it all, it was only those seven who remained. The rest, who left as quickly as they came, were customers whom Sojiro had served over the years, regulars.

Only Sojiro's family remained though, or at least, the closest thing he had to family.

"So um… long time, huh?" Someone finally spoke up, after a little while of just standing there. Everyone turned to the speaker. Ryuji Sakamoto hadn't aged a day, it seemed. He was about the same height, same build, even his face was basically the same. He even still had his hair bleached.

"We haven't been together in at least eight years, and that's all you can say?" Ann asked, clearly frustrated. This seemed to break the tension, because everyone started to laugh.

"It really has been too long." Haru Okumara said, once the rabble calmed down. "As much as I would like to laugh and talk about the old times, maybe we shouldn't do it at the cemetery. I don't want to be haunted by any ghost or anything."

"Haru, there's no such thing as ghosts." Futaba affirmed, somewhat roughly.

"You've literally stolen people's hearts, and you're doubting that there's such a thing as ghosts?" Morgana asked, poking his head out of Ren's bag.

"Wait, are ghosts _real_, Mona-chan?" Ann asked, quite worriedly.

"I actually don't know… sorry." He said, awkwardly.

"Though Haru's logic is flawed, I do think it's a good idea to go somewhere less… moody. Perhaps to LeBlanc? I could have my driver pick up a few bottles of wine on the way there. Oh, and Ren can cook some of Boss' delicious curry!" Yusuke suggested excitedly.

"You have a driver?" Ryuji asked, "For like, a limo? You have a limo?"

"Not exactly, it is more like a Cadillac. You can come with me in my car, if you like."

"If we're drinking, I need to stop at my hotel and change clothes." Ann said, sounding somewhat uninterested. Ren figured she was just acting though. He'd talked to plenty of actors and actresses before, and that's how they all talked about things they were actually pleased about.

"Ok so Ryuji and Yusuke can go get something to drink, Ann will go to her hotel, and Haru and Mako will come with me, Futaba, and Morgana in Sojiro's car. We'll all meet back at LeBlanc."

"Agreed." Haru said, acting as the voice of the group.

As they approached Sojiro's old car, Makoto knew she needed to talk to Ren. He had matured very well, and was basically one of the hottest guys she'd ever seen now, even though he really hadn't changed all that much. He'd bulked up a little, and gotten a tan. Of course, living in California would do that to you, she figured.

"So… who gets the car?" She asked him, making conversation before they reached the vintage automobile.

"I don't really know. I think Futaba, but she said she hasn't talked with Sojiro's lawyer yet. I have no clue what she's gonna do with with it, just because she doesn't know how to drive."

"I hope you're a better driver than back when we were the Phantom Thieves." She laughed.

"I like to think so." He assured, obviously trying to sound cool. Was he flirting? Makoto couldn't decide. "I mean, I _have _been living in Las Angeles for the past seven years. Traffic is nuts there."

"And it's nuts here, I promise. I should know, I give out tons of tickets on the daily."

"Right, I'd heard you were a police officer now."

"Shotgun!" Futaba called as they reached the old yellow car. Makoto felt irritated at the girl, mostly since she had been in the process of reaching for the door handle.

She took a deep breath, and put on a smile. She really wanted to sit by Ren and talk more.

What on earth am I thinking? She thought. I already have a boyfriend. Need to think about Esume…

Ren however, only had last night on his mind. Sojiro's murder and Igor's reappearance… there must be some kind of connection. It wasn't coincidence. Ren knew it.

"So um… what will happen with Cafe LeBlanc?" Makoto asked the rest of the passengers in the car as they drove.

"Not really sure." Ren replied, looking at Futaba for a moment, then back to the road. Traffic was pretty light right now. They would probably be at the restaurant soon.

"Well, I have to meet with Sojiro's lawyer tomorrow about the will. It's the first time I have really done anything like that though."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Ren asked, "I have some experience with lawyers, after all."

"I was hoping you'd offer. Especially because I am pretty sure you are gonna get some stuff too."

"No way." Ren said, smiling, "You and Sojiro's other family members."

"Ren, _you're _his other family members. You may not believe me, but he thought of you as a son. And besides, even if I get LeBlanc, you're the one who knows how to cook and make coffee, not me. You can work for me."

Ren chuckled cutely. Makoto felt hot. She bit her lip, trying to think about her boyfriend again.

"I think that would be an excellent idea, Ren." Haru agreed pleasantly.

"I dunno… I have a job in the US. Kind of big stuff."

Futaba smiled at Ren slyly. Ren looked back at her, wide-eyed. Clearly she knew something. Something Ren had thought was a secret. Which could only mean one thing, figured Makoto, something had happened with Ren's United States job. What was it again? A reporter, or something like that.

Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes, stopping just short of a masked man, holding what appeared to be a club.

"Shit!" Ren cursed as he pulled the handbrake of the car to stop it. Makoto, by instinct, hopped out of the vehicle and began to chase the masked man.

She pulled out her cell phone and called her precinct.

"This is Officer Niijima. I'm in pursuit of a masked man near the Yongen-Jaya station. Suspect is about 5'8, armed with what appears to be a billy club."

"Copy Officer Niijima," the Operator said on the other end of the line, "Backup is en route to your location."

"Copy. Niijima out."

Makoto chased the man down an alleyway, vaulting over a barrier with ease. The suspect spun around and pulled what appeared to be a pistol from his jacket. Makoto ducked into a side alley to avoid a bullet.

"Where the hell did he get a pistol?" Makoto said to herself as she dialed the Station again.

"This is Niijima. Suspect is armed with a pistol, use caution. I repeat, suspect is armed with a gun."

She hung up the phone and started to chase the suspect again, who she couldn't see, but could hear, running.

"Freeze!" She said, as she started to catch up. "This is the police!"

"You freeze, bitch!" The perpetrator yelled, pointing his gun backwards and firing a few shots.

Before he could fire too many, a familiar vintage yellow porche came down a side alley, nailing the perpetrator in the leg. The force knocked him to the ground, but he was quickly back up again.

Ren shot out of the old car, tackling the perp against the alley wall. They both grunted. Ren stepped back a few steps and threw a few clean jabs toward the criminal, though only two made contact. The last punch made a gross cracking sound against the brick behind it.

Makoto, who was too awestruck to realise she was just standing and staring. Her mouth was even open.

Ren, instead of whimpering and nursing his hand, which was probably broken, threw a knee to the gut of the masked man. The man spun away, and aimed his gun at Ren. He put his hands up quickly.

"Now get on the ground." The criminal told the young man in a rough voice, clearly shaken by the quick, vicious attack.

"It's alright man, just calm down." Ren said cautiously, making eye contact with Makoto. She nodded slowly. Clearly the criminal had forgotten about her.

Faster than she expected, Ren grabbed the gun, wrenching it quickly from the suspect's grip. Makoto dove, shoving him forward. Ren bashed the man in the face with his elbow, knocking him to the ground.

He quickly gave the gun to Makoto, and she pointed it at the perp. She opened her mouth to tell the man he was under arrest, but he was already unconscious.

"Good moves." She complimented Ren with a slight smile.

Stupid, Niijima. That was dumb. 'Good moves?' She thought, criticizing herself.

He, on the other hand, smiled a little.

"Took a couple of self defense courses in university." He said, clutching his injured hand.

"More than a couple!" Futaba yelled excitedly from the car window, which she had rolled down now that it was safe, "You were like, Street Fighter meets 007! That was AMAZING!"

"I have to agree." Haru said, "It really _was _quite impressive."

"What else can you expect from a former Phantom Thief?" Makoto asked them, smiling once again. She was competing for his attention, and she knew it. And that frustrated her, _a lot_.

**Part 2**

"Sorry we are late." Futaba said as they entered LeBlanc to see the others. "Ren almost hit some guy with his car and then had to beat the shit out of him."

Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke all looked at Ren, all three clearly puzzled.

"I can explain." Makoto told them, "An armed suspect in a crime ran in front of the car, Ren helped disarm and disable the perpetrator, and we had to wait for on duty police officers to arrive and take statements."

"Dude," Ryuji said with a gleam in his eye, "That's badass!"

Ren shrugged and rubbed the back of his head with his uninjured hand.

"What happened to your hand?" Yusuke asked, noticing the gauze wrapped around the injury.

"Oh, I punched a brick wall trying to knock the guy out." He said quite humbly.

"But he cracked the brick!" Morgana exaggerated excitedly.

"It's true! I saw it!" Futaba said, joining in on Morgana's lie. "Our leader is still as fearless and strong as back when we had our powers!"

"Fearless, for sure, but I don't know about strong. I mean, if it wasn't for Makoto, I probably would have been shot."

"Shot?! The guy had a gun? Oh my god, are you ok, Ren?" Ann asked cutely, approaching their injured friend.

Makoto wasn't sure if anyone else noticed over her perfume, but Ann carried the scent of alcohol on her breath. She'd definitely already been drinking, and judging by the fact that the wine bottles Yusuke were still sealed, that means she'd drunk at her hotel room when she had gone back to change clothes.

Makoto told herself to calm down. She was getting heated over Ann flirting with Ren. What the hell was wrong with her? No, what the hell was wrong with _him? _It seemed he forgot that Ann had broken his heart years ago, because he took her drunk flirting with some excitement. That's what Makoto observed, anyways, since he seemed to be flirting back. Makoto felt her blood boiling.

Eventually, Ren got the curry started. Luckily, it didn't take long to cook, since he had practiced the recipe a lot. He had it down to a science, since he'd cooked large pots of it for basically every party he'd ever been to. Everyone who tried it loved it.

"Ren," Morgana said, as things settled down, "You remember when Boss wanted to throw me out?"

"I remember when _Ryuji _wanted to throw you out." The young man laughed, making fun of his best friend.

"Hey, we aren't talkin' about me!" Ryuji defended, clearly somewhat worked up. Everyone else just laughed.

"Yeah, I remember Morgana." Ren assured the cat, smiling, "Boss had a soft spot for cats. What did he say? Right, he said that you were 'too damn cute to throw out.' Hard to believe we hardly knew him back then."

"Then he gave me some curry!" Morgana smiled, licking his feline lips excitedly, "Man, that smells delicious!"

Once the curry was served and the wine was opened, the mood became lighter as the friends, though separated for so long, began to reforge bonds that had not been broken as they thought, but only weakened by time.

"You know, Ren," Yusuke said drunkenly, "Boss always liked you."

"As long as you knew him, yeah," Ren laughed, just as inebriated, "but he really didn't like me at first."

"No, he did, I swear." Yusuke insisted, "I asked him one time. I said 'Boss, why did you take that guy in?' And he said, 'Well, Yusuke, my best friend, it is because that guy reminds me of me when I was young.'"

"He did not say that!" Futaba, who was clearly more sober than the two boys, insisted, "You're making this up!"

"Ok, I may not remember it very well right now," The artist admitted after a hiccup, "But that _is _really why he took Ren in!"

"I see it, honestly." Maru, who didn't appear affected by the wine at all, said thoughtfully, "Boss carried this air of dignity about him. That's always what impressed me about you, Joker."

"Man, those days seem like lifetimes ago…" Ryuji, who was arguably the drunkest of the friends, mumbled.

"Seriously!" Ann smiled, "We were the Phantom Thieves. I still have a hard time believing it sometimes."

"Man, you guys are seriously wasted! I will never understand why humans like to get drunk. It seems sickening." Morgana laughed.

"Tell you what, Morgana," Ryuji smirked, "When you're human, when we figure out how to turn you human, drinks are on me."

The cat's eyes shone brightly at Ryuji. He had clearly changed his opinion on drinking very quickly.

"Do you mean it, Skull?"

"Dead serious, Mona." Ryuji promised, even if it was just a drunken promise. Morgana began to jump and dance around playfully.

"I'm soo tired, Mona-chan." Futaba said, "Will you walk me home? I don't want to get jumped by some creep."

"You know I am a cat, right?"

"You're the only one here sober enough to walk straight. Besides, it's past your bedtime!"

With a grumble, the cat hopped down off the counter and onto the girl's shoulder.

"We'll see you guys later." She said, smiling and hugging everyone.

"Definitely!" Ann smiled goofily, "We will have to hang out a lot more."

"But Ren has to go back to the United States soon." Ryuj sighed.

Futaba smiled at the boy with glasses. Ren shook his head. She clearly knew about the phone call he had with his boss.

"You listened to my phone conversation?"

"Should I tell them or do you want to?"

"Futaba, you _listened_ to my phone conversation?"

"In my defence, I didn't _mean_ to listen in, you just happened to have the conversation in the only room in LeBlanc that I have bugged."

Ren sighed, but then smiled and shook his head.

"I'll tell them." He assured her quietly, then turned to the others. "I had a phone call with my boss last night. I guess this morning, technically. I had to be on a plane by six today, otherwise I would be fired. Considering how it is almost 9:45, I am fairly certain I don't have a job anymore."

"Yes!" Ryuji cried out, pumping his fist in the air. Everyone else reacted similarly, though not quite as intense as Ryuji.

"Aw hell yeah bro!" The blonde boy shouted, "We can hit the gym again! It's gonna be hella sweet now that you're not leaving."

"And I promise I won't even charge you for sleeping here at LeBlanc!" Futaba added, laughing like a madwoman, which was probably the drunkest thing she'd done all night.

"Ok, so we are hanging out tomorrow?" Ryuji asked the group. While everyone was in agreement about hanging out, tomorrow only seemed good for only Futaba and Morgana.

"What, you guys got something to do tomorrow?"

"I have to work." Mako said awkwardly. "I only took today off."

"And I need to go to a seminar I am teaching on classical japanese art." Yusuke added.

"I need to film. Sorry."

"Okumura Foods has a board meeting soon, I need to get ready."

"C'mon you guys! Ren?"

"Sorry man, I need to make some calls about getting my stuff shipped here. And my last paycheck."

"Ugh… fine…" Ryuji finally said, clearly defeated. "But we have to hang out soon. AND we are exchanging contact info right now. We need to make a group chat like old times."

That was an idea that everyone agreed to. Once they exchanged numbers and IM accounts, Futaba and Morgana left, soon followed by Makoto, whose boyfriend came to pick her up, then Yusuke, who took Ryuji and Maru home with his driver, insisting that their homes were on the way to his, even though he wouldn't say where he lived, probably because Ryuji's and Maru's houses were _not _on the way to his house.

Finally, it was just Ren and Ann.


	4. Chapter 4: I Am Thou

**Part 1**

"Tonight sure has been fun." Ann said with a smile, as Ren began to clean up.

He took a moment to look up at her. Her blue eyes and natural blonde hair still looked like something out of a book. Despite the fact that he'd seen a lot of girls like that since he moved to the States, Ann still had something about her that blew him away. Not to mention that her body was still smoking hot.

"Yeah, it really has been." He smiled back.

"So… you've in California for the past few years… How's you're English?" She asked, switching to English to test him. He couldn't help at sneak glances at her every so often. Though she didn't take her eyes off of him.

"Honestly," He said, switching to English as well, "it's better than my Japanese right now."

"I'll say. It's pretty cute." She smiled widely at him. She was now leaning on the counter, just enough so that if Ren tried, he could see down her shirt quite a bit. Not that he could look long enough to get a good view. He didn't want to seem like a pervert. But, despite his sneakiness though, she knew he was looking.

"I heard you were in a movie." He changed the subject, though still speaking in English. He couldn't help it. It was easier right now, since Ann spoke English as well as she spoke Japanese. And the fact that she thought it was cute made it harder to switch back to his native tongue. "With Ethan Hawk. Did a story on him a few years back, before he was as big as he is now."

"Oh yeah, I think I read it, before I met him. Pretty well written. Though your English wasn't nearly as good as it is now. Very informative."

"What do you think of him?" He asked her, clearly thinking of the rumors of her and Hawk sleeping together.

"He's… nice. Very passionate about his work but really not much else. Honestly, I think Shiho's more interested in him than I am."

So the rumors are false. Thank God. Ren thought to himself.

"You're still friends with Shiho?" He asked, once again changing the subject. "How is she?"

Ann was getting impatient. Why wasn't he making a move?

"Shiho's fine." She said, drawing closer to the young man. He started to get nervous as her eyes looked into his. It was exciting.

"Ren," She asked him, "Do you _really _want to talk about Shiho or Ethan?"

He didn't know what to say. He was too nervous and too drunk to think as she pressed herself against him. When she kissed him, he didn't know what to do but kiss back. Her lips tasted like wine and cherries, which was odd, considering his probably tasted like curry. Thank God he hadn't made the curry too spicy.

"I'm too drunk to drive home. Do you want to go upstairs?" She whispered to him.

All Ren could do was nod.

Once upstairs, she pounced on him like a panther. Her lips were an ache he had longed for without realizing it. As they made out, he found himself completely helpless to her. He was ready to do whatever she said. Soon his shirt was off, and she was kissing his chest. He felt her soft body, and soon, once more, her lips met his.

Then, she looked into his eyes.

"Ann, I love you."

"Ren…" She muttered, almost painfully, "You're too drunk for this, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not." He whispered, feigning sobriety.

"I want you to _really _want this." She told him seriously, though there was a great sense of longing in her voice.

"I _do _really want this."

"It doesn't matter. I want the first time we make love to be more sober."

"Ann…" He protested as she got off of him, "You've had more to drink than I have."

"It seems I handle it better than you. I wasn't lying about being too drunk to drive home, but I am not going to have sex with you right now. I'm sorry. You're too drunk. I want you to remember it."

"I… I understand." He said, though he wasn't sure if he really did. Basically all the times previously that he had sex, he had been somewhat drunk. He was definitely more drunk than usual right now though. Ann was right, though he wasn't sure how she could tell.

"Is it cool if I just crash on the couch?"

"Yeah, but it is super dusty right now. Let me get a blanket from downstairs. Sojiro used to keep some in a closet down there. I'll get you one to cover the couch, and one to keep you warm."

"Thanks Ren, you're the best."

God Ren, He thought to himself, Why did you have to tell her that you love her? Is it even true?

He eventually somehow made it to the closet without falling over, though he did feel super sick. He wasn't sure if it was because of drunkenness or because he felt sad.

His nauseous feeling went away the moment he opened the closet. He forgot all about Ann, his job, and even Sojiro's death when he opened the closet door.

In the closet there was an object that filled him with dread; dread because he knew now that the end of the world was coming. He knew that his experience in the Velvet Room last night had been real, not just a random dream.

Sitting on the blankets he intended to get for Ann, was a mask. His mask.

"_I am Thou, and Thou art I…_" The voice of Arsene said in his mind.

"I am Thou," Ren repeated back, not taking his eyes off the Mask, which still filled his very soul with fear and despair, "and Thou… art I…"

Ren shoved the object into his pocket when Ann called his name. He wasn't sure how long he had been standing there, but Ann probably figured he had passed out drunkenly.

"Sorry I got distracted." He called back to her. He grabbed the two blankets and took them up the stairs. He no longer was longing for her. In fact, he longed for this all to be a dream now.

**Part 2**

Ren didn't sleep. He couldn't. He waited until Ann was asleep and pulled the Mask out from under the covers. He stared at it as though it were an alien object that had fallen from space. He just couldn't believe this was real. But it had to be.

If this was a dream, he would have gotten lucky with Ann, right? But that was the problem, he never dreamed about her. Not even just sex dreams, she was never in any of his dreams at all. Even when he dreamed about the Phantom Thieves. This was no dream.

Finally, after what he knew to be an hour of just staring at the Mask, he turned it around and placed it softly on his face. It fit perfectly, as though it were made for his face. He knew it was. He knew it was a part of him. A part of his soul. He also knew that if he tore it off, Arsene, his Persona, would appear.

Part of him wanted to do that. To summon Arsene, just to see the power. To be Joker again. That was who Ann probably wanted: Joker.

But I am Joker, right? Ren thought to himself. He spent a long time debating that issue. He finally came to the conclusion that he _was_ Joker, in the past, but he had changed so much that he was no longer Joker. He was Ren Amamiya, professional reporter and ameteur curry chef. He hadn't been Joker in a long time. Joker was a rebel, but the most rebellious thing Ren had done in the past few years was not return to LA when he was supposed to.

He knew that the only way to see if he still was Joker was to tear the mask off, to summon his Persona. He gripped the edge of the felt mask tightly and whispered.

"Arsene."

Nothing. No bright light, no voice, not even a feeling or sensation. It wasn't even painful, as the first time he'd summoned his Persona had been. Ren felt frustrated and angry. It wasn't real, none of it was. He tossed the mask off the bed, onto a shelf full of dusty momentos he and his friends had collected during his year here. He felt like crying.

He was just Ren. He was a fool to think he was anything else.

**Part 3**

When Ann awoke, it took her a moment to realize where she was. She was hungover, but what else was new? The last time she woke up not hungover was yesterday morning. Before that, well… she wasn't sure.

She really had a problem, and she knew it. But what else could she do? At least it wasn't known to the general populace that she was an alcoholic, right?

She looked over at Ren's empty bed. He wasn't there, but she heard noises downstairs, informing her that he was awake and probably cooking breakfast. Ann hoped he wasn't too hurt from last night. It was fun to her, even if they didn't go all the way. It also was a good sign that he still felt something for her, though she couldn't say if he still actually loved her or that was just drunk flirting.

Ann actually started to feel guilty. She was dating Ethan, and Ren had no idea. If he really did still love her, that news would crush him.

She finally got out of bead and walked downstairs. It smelled strongly of coffee and bacon.

"Ah, you're awake." He said with the cheer of someone who had not been sloppy drunk last night. He stepped away from the stove and poured her a mug of freshly made coffee. She took it with a soft smile.

"How is your head not killing you?" She asked him, trying to sound cheerful as he had, but failing miserably.

"In America," He started, "University is often spent drinking at night. I don't know why, but it wasn't any exception for me. I can handle hangovers fairly well now."

Ann sighed, but mostly in relief. Ren didn't seem mad. She sipped her mug, expecting a bitter taste. However, her coffee was sweet, very sweet. She started to cough.

"What?" Ren asked, clearly amused, "It's that bad?"

"No, no…" She assured him, clearing her throat, "Just went down the wrong pipe. It's delicious. I guess I forgot how good the coffee here was."

"You never came to LeBlanc after I left? Boss always liked you though."

"I did, for a little while. But it just wasn't the same once we all stopped hanging out."

"I get that." Ren said, putting a plate in front of her, "_Bon appetit_!"

"Wow, English _and_ French? Very cultured."

"That's about the extent of my French."

"Shame." Ann smiled, "If I thought your English was cute, your French would have been amazing."

Ann could tell she shouldn't have said that. Ren still seemed normal, though she could tell he was a little sad. She had to think of something else to say, something to lighten the mood.

Her phone started to ring. It was Shiho.

"Hey," She answered it with some hesitation, "What's up?"

"Ann, where are you?" Her friend asked. It was clear she was stressed.

"Um… at my hotel room." She lied. She knew it was wrong, and she promised she would explain to her friend later, but she needed to figure out how she felt first.

"You need to get down here now." Shiho said. Ann cursed. She was supposed to be on set an hour ago.

"I'll be there soon." She told her assistant, then hung up. "Ren, I-"

"You need to go film, I understand." He said, smiling slightly, "My feelings aren't hurt."

"Thanks for breakfast. It was good. Especially the coffee. I'll see you later?"

He smiled and his eyes gleamed slightly. It made her feel guilty.

"You know it."


	5. Chapter 5: The Will

**Part 1**

Ren stared at his phone for a while, unsure of who to call. Who would believe him about the dream he'd had? He thought about calling Ryuji or Futaba, but he finally decided not to call anyone. He had too much to do. Besides, he'd see Futaba and probably Morgana (who he knew would for sure listen to him) later when he drove Futaba to the Lawyer's office. He was supposed to meet her in a few minutes.

Ren stood up and put a black tie on. His knot looked sloppy, but he didn't really care. As he locked the door to the cafe, an older man, walking with his wife, stopped.

"Shame about Boss…" The man said somberly, "He was a good man."

"Yes," Ren agreed, "He really was."

"Say, what's going to happen to the restaurant now that Sojiro's passed on?"

"Not sure yet. His daughter and I were talking about keeping it open."

"Really? And who are you? Her boyfriend?"

"Oh, no." Ren assured the old man calmly, "I am… well I'm an old family friend. Sojiro taught me everything he knew about making coffee. And I even can make his old curry recipe. He was like a father to me."

"Oh good," The man said with a smile, "It'd be a shame to let some corporation buy this place. It would tarnish Boss' memory. You don't know how many hours me and my wife have spent at this place."

"Yes," His wife agreed, "Sakura-san was always greeted us with a smile and a hot coffee. He was good company too, on the days he wasn't too busy."

"Well," Ren grinned, "I hope to see you two a lot more often then."

"Same here, kid." The old man said, "Say, what did you say your name was?"

"Ren. Ren Amamiya."

"Well Ren, I'm Edo Nakahara."

"Pleased to meet you, Nakahara-san."

"You have a good day."

As the old couple parted with Ren, he casually made his way down the street, to the Sakura Residence. Futaba, accompanied by Morgana, was leaning against the wall of the property, near the gate.

"You're late." She teased.

"Sorry," Ren apologized, "I was talking with some locals. Good people. Regulars to the restaurant."

"I'm sorry, 'locals?' You even talk like a reporter, jeez!" She said, though Ren had the suspicion she was still teasing. "By the way, did you forget last night that the ground floor to the cafe was bugged?"

At first, Ren didn't realize why she brought that up, but when he did, he knew his face had turned bright red. He felt light headed and embarrassed.

"'Do you want to go upstairs?'" Futaba quoted, mimicking Ann's voice, "You haven't even been back a week and you're already hooking up with Ann?"

Ren looked at Futaba, unsure of what to say. He looked down at Morgana, who was sitting at the girl's feet, avoiding eye contact. He was probably mad. He'd had a crush on Ann since he'd first laid eyes on her, even going as far as to call her "Lady Ann." In Ren's defense though, _he _had had a crush on her since he first laid eyes on her as well, and he'd met Ann _weeks _before Morgana had.

"Look, Futaba, we didn't _do_ anything." He explained, "I said something she didn't like and she told me I was too drunk."

"What did you say?" The girl asked curiously.

"It's… not of your business." He told her, growing quiet about it. He didn't want to talk about it more.

"Besides," he changed the subject, "I have something a little more important to talk with you and Morgana about."

"You can tell us on the way." She said, passing him the keys to Sojiro's car, "Otherwise, we are gonna be late."

They drove for a while in silence. Ren wanted to tell them about the dream, but he still felt awkward about last night. Well, not necessarily just about last night, more the fact that Futaba and Morgana had heard everything from last night, at least everything that went on downstairs.

"We are almost there." Futaba hinted, clearly curious about what Ren had to talk to them about, "What did you have to tell us?"

"It was mostly for Morgana. I… I had something weird happen to me." Ren told her. The cat perked up his ears at the mention of his name.

"What is it, Ren?" He asked, casually making his way from the backseat to Futaba's lap.

"There's no easy way to explain this, but I had a dream. About the Velvet Room."

"What? The Velvet Room? What happened?"

"Igor told me that something was coming. Something evil. He couldn't explain much, but it wasn't just a dream."

"How do you know?" Futaba asked.

Ren reached his hand in his suit pocket and pulled the mask from it. He passed it to her.

"Because he gave me this."

Futaba looked at the mask and then back at Ren in disbelief. Morgana shuddered, clearly sensing something that the other two were not.

"I thought Igor was destroyed with the Metaverse. It… it doesn't make sense, does it?" The girl asked.

"It… could be possible that Igor survived in Ren's personal cognition… but that doesn't make sense… the mask. If it was from the Metaverse, it wouldn't be able to come to the real world. Hm… Unless… no…"

"Do you know what is happening, Morgana?"

"No. The only time I have ever seen anything that is based in the Metaverse come to the real world was when Yaldabaoth tried to fuse the two… What happened when you put it on?"

"Nothing." Ren answered coldly. "Nothing. I just… I don't know what it means. I tried to summon my Persona, but… nothing."

"Ren, don't take this the wrong way," Futaba said, "But what if it doesn't mean anything. Did you wake up from the dream with this in your hands or something?"

"No… I found it at LeBlanc." Ren told them, "In a closet. I know what you're thinking, but why would Sojiro have my mask?"

"I am not saying you're a liar, but it is a masquerade mask. It's not exactly the rarest thing in the world."

Ren stopped the car on the street outside the lawyer's office.

"We can talk about this later." Ren said, "Let's go inside."

**Part 2**

"Makoto, you alright?" Ezume asked on the way to work.

She wasn't. She had the worst hangover, and she _knew_ that Ann had done something after she had left the party. Had it been a party? She didn't know exactly what to call it.

She knew Ann had done something, because Makoto had seen the way she looked at him when he wasn't looking. She had seen the way she watched his every movement like… well, a panther.

Most of all, she saw the way Ren looked at Ann. It was the same way he looked at her all those years ago. It frustrated her, the same way it had back then.

"Mako-chan, you there?" Ezume asked once more, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry." She said, rubbing her eyes lightly.

"Something bothering you? You were zoned out for a while there."

"No, it's just my head. I never drink anymore. Not used to the hangover."

Ezume laughed. She smiled. His laugh was warm and friendly. It was charismatic and hearty. It made her remember why she liked him in the first place. It made her forget the thought of Ann and Ren together, possibly in bed. She didn't know for sure.

When they arrived at the Station, Ezume kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey," He said warmly, "I love you."

She hesitated for a moment.

"I love you too."

For the first time since she met him, though, she wasn't sure if that was true.

**Part 3**

"Sorry about the wait," The lawyer apologized as he walked in, "the traffic on the way here was insane…"

"We didn't run into any traffic." Ren said, observationally. The lawyer frowned, and then Ren realized why. He didn't mean to, but he had accused the lawyer of lying. "But we _did _come from the west."

"Ah, that makes sense. I came from the east."

Ren wasn't sure if he was telling the truth about that though. He may have been trying to save face.

"Let's get down to business." He said, sitting down at the table. He shuffled through his briefcase and pulled out a single sheet of paper.

"It's short…" Futaba said, squinting her eyes.

"Well, there's not much on here." The lawyer told them, "It's actually shorter than the full page."

"Just read it." Futaba ordered politely.

The lawyer cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses, then started to read.

"I, Sojiro Sakura, declare this to be my one and only will," He began, "After my debts and taxes, in the event of my passing, I leave my house, car, and all personal possessions and bank accounts to my legal ward, Futaba Sakura.

"I leave all my business accounts and my restaurant, Cafe LeBlanc, including all supplies necessary to keep it running, to Ren Amamiya, my closest friend, on the condition that he keeps it running and looks after Futaba in my absence.

"Signed, Sojiro Sakura."

"As I thought." Futaba said as she sat back.

"Yes… I just have to have you both sign some forms, just to confirm that I read this to you, and that you agree with any conditions that Sakura-san stated. Also a few debt forms and tax forms, just stating that the bank has the right to pay off any debts and taxes we need before you take possession legally of Sakura-san's property."

**Part 4**

"We have a report of a suspicious individual walking around in Aoyoma-Itchome. Near Shujin Academy." A voice said over Makoto's police radio, "Could we get a unit to go check it out? Be advised, he may be armed."

"I am near Shujin." Makoto said as she pressed the button on her walkie-talkie, "I am on it. Do we have a description of the man."

"Can't miss him, Niijima. Apparently he's between 6'3 and 6'5. Super tall guy. Dark clothes. Black hoodie."

"Got it. Thanks."

Makoto walked down the street until she was near Shujin, her old high school. There wasn't anyone in view, but she was going to be diligent. She turned the corner, down the walkway towards Shujin Academy.

She saw a tall man, dark clothes, black hoodie. Exactly like the dispatcher had said. He had his back towards her.

_Ok, Makoto, _she thought to herself, _as far as we know, he hasn't done anything. Just head over and ask if everything is alright…_

She slowly approached the man. She placed her hand on her gun, only briefly. She'd never fired it in the field, but she was one of the best shots on the force, which she owed secretly to her time in the Phantom Thieves. She took a deep breath and put on a smile.

"Excuse me, sir?" She started to say, "Is there anything I can-"

The man spun around the moment she spoke. He was wearing an old looking wooden mask; it showed an angry expression, like an Oni. His eyes seemed to glow faintly, though it may have been the light reflecting off of them.

Regardless, he lunged towards her. She panicked, screeching, and jumped backwards. He just missed her, grabbing at nothing in the air. He howled like a wild man, and jumped towards her again. She started to run.

"This is Niijima," She said over her radio, "I need-"

Two large hands grabbed her shoulders, interrupting her call for backup. She flailed her long legs backwards, managing to land a hard kick. He growled like an animal, but dropped her.

Makoto drew her gun and pointed it at the man, who didn't even flinch. He grabbed her shoulders with lightning fast reflexes, and pinned her against the brick wall behind her. The sudden jolt of pain surprised her, and she dropped her gun. It fired as it hit the ground, startling the wild man, who dropped her to the ground.

She sprawled onto the concrete, reaching for her revolver. She felt a large hand grab the back of her neck. He started to lift her up, but she heard a very faint sound. A gun, quieted by a suppressor. The man dropped backwards, letting go of her neck. She didn't see him fall, because she collapsed to her knees. She did, however, hear the man disappear.

She heard it, because it was a familiar noise: A shadow dissipating. Makoto coughed for a few seconds. It hurt her chest a lot. She ached all over. But she was alone, that is, until people rushed out of Shujin Academy, drawn by her gun, which had gone off when she dropped it.

_What the hell was that? _


	6. Chapter 6: First Heist

**Part 1**

As Yusuke painted, he felt at ease with everything. Not that he had a lot going wrong with his life. His life was pretty good, he had decided a while ago. His life was art. Everything he painted, people talked about forever… or at least, until his _next_ painting was finished. He sold his paintings for tens of millions of yen, though he could've probably sold for more, considering that second or third buyers were buying for hundreds of millions of yen. He had heard that one of his earlier works had sold for one billion yen.

Of course, he really wasn't that greedy. He already had more money than he knew what to do with. He lived very comfortably, and he was more than content with that. He was thankful to everyone who loved and adored his paintings.

Recently, because of an article published by Ren in the United States, his artwork had become more popular there, so he was making even more money now than ever.

Not that he cared, of course. He just loved art. He was everything the world thought that his old master, Madarame, had been. He was even starting to grow a goatee like the old man.

He had visited Madarame several times after he had graduated from Art School. The first visit went terribly, with the old man apologizing and crying the whole time, even though it had been _years_ after the Phantom Thieves had changed his heart.

But, slowly, the old man learned that Yusuke did not hold any grudge against him, at least not anymore. He had warmed up to his old pupil, and the two had talked quite frequently, as much as Yusuke's schedule allowed him to visit the Prison.

Madarame eventually, however, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and was released from prison into Yusuke's care. He did not live long after that.

He had attempted to paint the old man several times after his death. Tried to portray him to the world as a man who had returned to the light, who had changed. No matter how hard he tried, however, Yusuke could not seem to get this portrayal correct. The old man always looked either sinister or he looked sad. It was no different with this painting. Though he was nearly done, Yusuke felt as though this picture captured more of an angry emotion than a redemptive one.

He pulled the canvas off the easel and set it aside. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head slowly. He felt stressed. He hadn't unveiled a new painting in a while, and he knew his fans were getting antsy.

His phone went off. Normally he ignored it while in such a creative process, but he felt drained by his newly scrapped painting, so he checked it anyway.

"Hey, u awake, Inari?" Futaba's message read.

He hadn't realized what time it was. It was super late, about one AM. He wiped the paint from his hands, picked up the phone, and sat himself on the ground against the wall.

"Yes." He replied in one message, then he sent another, "What's up?"

"Idk." She texted back almost instantly, "I just can't sleep. Figured u would still be awake."

"Why's that?"

"Because ur an artist. U guys never sleep."

"Hurtful, but true…"

"Don't cry about it, Inari!"

"I'm not, haha!"

"Good. What kind of painting r u working on?"

Yusuke put his phone down for a moment. He felt confused. Why was she texting him, about _art,_ if nothing else. It's not like Futaba was interested in art. At least, he was _pretty sure_ she hadn't been. He suddenly felt like he didn't know Futaba all that well. Was she into art?

"Just messing around with something right now." He replied, "Nothing really solid at the moment. I can't seem to find the right feeling for it. If that makes any sense."

"Total sense." She said.

Yusuke felt very tired all of the sudden. What time had he awoken that morning? He felt like going to sleep, but he didn't want Futaba to think he was ignoring her.

"You still awake?" She texted after a few moments.

"Yes, sorry." He replied, "I was just thinking."

"Inari… I don't know how to say this…"

"Just say it."

"Sorry… Um… I just am really down."

"Like, sad?"

"Yeah. It's like there's a hole in my heart. I just wanted to talk to you about it." She said in one message, then she sent a second, "Only because I thought you'd be awake!"

"Why don't you try drawing something? Like, how you feel?"

"_Drawing _something? Who do you think I am? Lol"

"It could help. Why don't you video call me and I can help you out with it. Give you suggestions or something."

"Ok ^.^"

**Part 2**

Ren felt nervous. What he was about to do went _way _past investigative journalism. He'd been in some sketchy situations before, sometimes questionably legal, but never anything as blatantly illegal as this.

_I should've just asked Makoto for help…_

He hadn't wanted to involve her though. That's why he hadn't asked her. Besides, he didn't want to involve her in anything illegal.

Ren took a deep breath, and put his mask on his face. If it wasn't good for anything, at least it was good enough to disguise his identity. He pulled the hood of his jacket up too, just for good measure. Not quite as glamorous as his Joker outfit, but it would do for now.

He stepped out of the alleyway when the coast was clear. Though there would still be officers at the police station, at least they would probably be tired. That's what Ren hoped, anyways.

He scurried across the street, avoiding the bright streetlights, which shone like spotlights, illuminating the narrow road. Ren was just skinny enough to fit through the gap in the lit circles without the light shining on him. He was just thankful that it was a new moon tonight. It worked out great for him, because there was no light from the moon.

He couldn't go through the front door though. A good thief never goes through the front entrance. Morgana had taught him that very early on in his successful career as a Phantom Thief. He ducked down the alley behind the Station, towards the officer parking lot.

The lot was well lit, and Ren knew that he wouldn't be able to get in through the employee entrance. He wondered briefly if any of those cars were Makoto's, or maybe her boyfriend's.

He hoped she wasn't here though. He didn't know what shift she worked.

Ren climbed up onto the dumpster next to the Station, then jumped up to the fire escape. Easy enough. The windows wouldn't be easy to get past without breaking though. Besides, he wasn't sure if they had an alarm or not.

He had to improvise. He pulled a small pry bar from his jacket pocket and shoved it under the window. He lifted it as much as the lock would allow him, then pulled a wire hanger out. _At least I came prepared…_

He shoved the hanger underneath the small gap in the window and then removed the pry bar. The shoved the hanger, and, to his fortune, he felt the lock pop. _It worked!_

The room was dark and quiet. Not much more than a closet. He felt himself sweating. It wasn't too late to back out… But he couldn't. He had to see the police report for Sojiro's death. He wasn't sure if there would be anything on them, but he couldn't know until he checked.

By holding a pocket mirror at the bottom of the door, he was able to get a small view of the next room. It was a well lit hallway. He didn't like that, and considered exiting the room through the way he came in and trying another room.

He held his breath and put his ear to the door. He didn't hear anyone, so he thought he'd risk it. He pulled a small vial of vegetable oil from his pocket and applied it to the hinges of the door, an easy trick to help the door not creak.

He slowly pulled the wooden door open and took a peek out. It looked like the hallway led to a slightly darkened area with cubicles. He wasn't sure if anyone was over there, but he knew darkness would be better than a well-lit hallway.

He creeped over to the area with the cubicles and took cover in one. He looked around the corner by holding the pocket mirror near the ground. He saw two uniformed officers chatting. He held his breath again, and could just barely make out what they were saying.

"By the way, speaking of crazy, did you hear what happened to Niijima today?" One of them, said.

"Ezume's girl? No, I thought she was a meter maid. Crazy shit doesn't happen to them." The other, who had a mustache, said.

"Nah, you're thinking of Ezume's _ex._ Niijima's a patrol officer."

"Ok, yeah I know which one you're talking about. Brown hair, bob cut, right?"

"Yeah. Anyway, she went to go check out a suspicious individual near that highschool, Shujin Academy, and supposedly the guy was wicked strong. Damn near killed her. She said that she heard a shot and the guy got sniped. But there is no evidence of blood or anything. She said the guy disappeared after he died on the ground."

"No kidding, you think she's lost it?"

"Nah. I think she's just shaken. Guy got spooked by her gun going off and booked it."

Makoto was attacked? By a guy who disappeared? Ren felt a weird sense of _Deja Vu_.

"Anyways, I gotta get moving." The mustached one said, "Gotta put this file in the records room."

"Alright, see you later."

Good. All Ren had to do was follow him. He waited until the other one ducked into another room, then he followed the mustache one down the hall. The mustache one went into a room that was labeled 'RECORDS ROOM.'

_Bingo._

Ren followed him in before the door shut all the way. The officer was thumbing through a file cabinet, looking for a place to put the file. Ren ducked into the corner of the room, hiding behind a different file cabinet. If the officer turned the way Ren hoped he would, he wouldn't see the suspicious individual hiding behind a file cabinet. For extra good measure, Ren started to hold his breath again.

The blood rushed through Ren's ears and he felt sweat dripping down his torso as the officer talked to himself.

"Where is it?" The officer muttered, "Come on… and… bingo!"

The moment of truth. Ren could hear his heart beating loudly. He was nervous that the officer could hear it too.

But he didn't.

The officer left the room, _without_ noticing the masked man ducking in the corner. _Thank God…_

Ren thought it would be harder to find the file, but it was all in english alphabetical order. Very simple, but an effective method of sorting things. He found 'Sakura, Sojiro' in both english and japanese. He pulled out the file and began to shuffle through the papers, until he heard large boots walking towards the Records Room.

Ren panicked internally. He hadn't been able to read the whole file. He pulled out his phone and took pictures of as much of it as he could. He shoved the file back in, in a random spot, and started to make his way for the door.

It swung open suddenly, giving him barely enough time to bolt behind the door. A woman and man entered the room: Makoto and another officer.

"Babe," The man started to say as Ren waited for them to enter the room a little further. His plan was to duck out of the door as soon as they were past it. "It just…"

"Just what?" Makoto asked, quite irritably, "Just sounds crazy?"

"That's not what I was gonna say…"

_Now!_ Ren thought as he moved as quickly as he could quietly out the door. There was no one in the hall, so he ran down into the darkened cubicle room. He slid under a desk, into the darkness it provided.

"Hm… Nothing." Makoto said as she opened the Record Room door, "I could've sworn…"

"You're just jumpy." The other officer, presumably Ezume, told her, "Look, let's just call it a night now, go home, drink some wine, take a hot bath… Doesn't that sound nice?"

She looked back at him angrily.

"Why don't you go home? If you, of _all people_, isn't going to believe me, I don't want to go with you." She told him.

"You're overreacting. Look, I am gonna go get in the car. Finish up here, and come out."

"Fine."

"Hey," He told her as he kissed her forehead, "I love you."

She didn't say anything.

She sat down at a desk near the one Ren was hiding under. He heard her tapping at her phone, and he heard the message being sent. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Did she just text him?

He held his breath once more, worried she had heard the subtle sound of the vibration. But she didn't seem to hear it. After a few minutes, she got up and left. He waited a few more minutes longer, just for good measure. Then he bolted.

He was almost there, when he heard a gruff voice behind him.

"Tokyo Police! Freeze!"

_Shit._

He quickly pulled something out of his pocket and slammed it onto the ground. Smoke erupted everywhere all of the sudden, and he heard gunshots. He slammed kicked open he door he had first entered through, lifted the window, then jumped out into the night.


	7. Chapter 7: Deal with Death

**Part 1**

Ren rolled as he hit the ground. It hurt like hell, but it didn't stop him from booking it. He ran, ducking through different alleyways. He heard sirens nearby, but didn't stop to listen to them. He just ran.

He ducked down into the metro station, taking off his mask and lowering the hood of his sweatshirt as he did.. The sirens were in the distance, but he couldn't stop. He only slowed, as to not draw too much attention to himself. He quickly tried to figure out how to make himself look different.

It wasn't hard. He unzipped his hoodie, bought an old peacoat off a homeless man, and used a rubber band to tie his shaggy hair back into a topknot. A completely different person.

The police didn't even look his way when they entered the subway. He managed to enter the subway car with no problems. He even managed to find a seat, though it _was_ late at night. He took the rubber band out of his hair, hunched over in his seat, and let out a sigh of relief.

_I did it._

He had to smile. It was thrilling. He missed this. It was like a drug that he didn't realize how much he had missed.

But, God, did he feel _sore._ He probably would have to go see a doctor or something. Now that his blood stopped rushing, and adrenaline had ceased pumping, it felt like his shoulder was dislocated, probably from the two story fall out of the police station.

But he had done it. And that enough was a reason to smile.

He pulled out his phone to look at the pictures of Sojiro's police report, when he saw the text.

"Hey," It said, with Makoto's name next to it, "You awake?"

He wasn't sure how to respond to it.

**Part 2**

Ann woke up still feeling like shit. She was hungover again. Why couldn't she spend a single night sober?

She rolled over in her bed, but saw Ethan Hawke, the famous actor, asleep in her bed. Right… they had spent the night together.

_I can't believe I blacked out again…_

She got out of bed. She was still naked from the night before, and didn't bother to put clothes on. She just hopped straight into the shower. She wished he wasn't there, that she had woken up alone. She could live with the hangover, but she didn't want Ethan to be here. Maybe if she wished hard enough, he would be gone when she got out of the shower. She hoped so, as she put a silk bathrobe on.

That was not the case. He was thankfully clothed again, but he was in the kitchen, going over his script again. It annoyed her, how diligent he was at reading the damn script. It wasn't like he didn't know all the lines.

"Hey." He said casually as she walked in. She waited a moment, expecting him to say something else, but he did not.

"Coffee's in the pot?" She asked. He just nodded.

As she took a sip, she felt sick. Compared to yesterday morning's coffee, the one Ren had made for her, this was water with dirt mixed in. It was disgusting. She couldn't believe she had drank this shit for years. She couldn't believe she had _enjoyed _drinking this shit. She even did a commercial for it, a year back.

"I think I am gonna take the day off." She told Ethan, trying to make some conversation.

"Yeah? Good. Self care day. Go to the spa or something." He said, smiling, though he didn't look up from the script.

"I think I will." She said, but he just nodded.

_This_ is what she was telling Shiho about. Ethan was hot, yes. He had a sexy body and was the best sex she'd ever had, yes, but he was just so boring.

"What will you be doing all day?" She asked him.

"Hm… not sure. Haven't seen much of Tokyo yet, so I think I will go ahead and take a cultural tour or something."

"That sound's fun." She said, hinting that _she _would like to do that as well.

"Yeah, hope it is. You grew up here, right? What is there to see?"

"Um… there's a temple in Meiji Jingumae. It is really cool."

Ren had taken her there on a date once. She thought it was weird at first, but they actually had a lot of fun and got to know each other super well. That's all she could think of when she thought of it.

"Got it… Hey how do you spell that?"

"Let me write it down for you…" She sighed. She started to wish that she had made love with Ren on Monday night. Maybe he would've been the one she had woken up with this morning, rather than Ethan. She thought about texting him, but she felt too guilty. She didn't want to make him just another person to lay with.

**Part 3**

Ren stumbled down the Yongen-Jaya street. The sun was just coming up, so it was still dark. His whole body ached and he felt exhausted. He pulled his key from his pocket and collapsed through the door onto the ground inside LeBlanc.

_Dammit…_

He laid there for a few minutes. He needed to see a doctor, but the Cafe would be opening in about an hour and a half.

_I really hope Takemi's clinic is still open._

Ren went up to his room and changed clothes. He also put on some cologne so he wouldn't smell like sweat and dirt. He headed back out the door, and down the street a little ways. There was a large neon sign that said it was the clinic, but it was not lit.

_C'mon…_

He knocked on the door. It was more of a pound, but he was hurting.

"We're closed!" He heard a woman's voice say on the other side of the door.

"Takemi, please, I need help…" Ren told her calmly, tapping on the door with a knuckle.

The years had been very kind to Tae Takemi. She looked basically the same as Ren remembered her. She still wore punk clothes, still was the same height, build, everything. She was even as hot as he remembered. Not that he could've told anyone that he had thought that. How old was she now? Early to mid thirties?

_You sound like a cop. _Ren thought to himself.

"Oh, it's you." She said to him as she opened the door. She sounded very confused. "Come on in."

He followed her into the clinic. It, like Takemi, also looked exactly the same. Did nothing in Yongen-Jaya ever change?

"How have you been?" She asked nonchalantly, as though she had seen him last week, "It's been a while."

"Been better." He replied, trying to sound as casual as she had. "Hurt my shoulder."

"Doing what?"

"Um… would you believe it if I said parkour?"

She shook her head, but smiled cutely.

"Come to the back. I'll check it out."

The pair went into the examination room. He took off his jacket and placed it on a chair. She motioned for him to sit on the examination table. She pulled up her chair.

"So where does it hurt?"

"The joint. I think I dislocated it."

She grabbed his arm lightly and began to slowly move it.

"So what did you study?"

"Excuse me?"

"After the entrance exams. I assume you passed, considering all the medicine I gave you."

"Right. Yeah, I actually went to school in the US. Journalism."

"Really? Damn, what made you do that?"

"I just… I dunno really. I guess I just wanted a change."

"When did you move back?"

"Officially… yesterday I guess. You know Boss died? He gave me the cafe."

"Yeah, shame about the old man. Good thing the cafe will still be open though. It's the only curry I actually like."

She pushed his arm forcefully. His shoulder popped, he winced.

"Yeah, you were right. It was dislocated."

"You have anything for the pain? I have to open the Cafe soon."

"Really? You look like shit? Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Thanks…" He muttered sarcastically.

"No offense intended." She added, laughing lightly. She seemed a lot happier than before, "I am just worried about you. The muscle seems freshly torn, which means this injury happened recently. Take off your shirt."

"Excuse me?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I am not trying to be weird, I just need to look at the shoulder."

He pulled off his t-shirt with some difficulty. Though she had popped his shoulder back into place, it still hurt like hell.

"Damn kid…" She said, looking him over, "You work out, huh?"

His face felt hot. She laughed, then grabbed his shoulder lightly.

"Just as I thought. Skin's still red. Not even bruised yet. I bet this happened within the past… I don't know… six hours?"

"I'm impressed."

"So what were you _really _doing then?"

"Promise not to tell anyone?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I promise."

"I was doing a little bit of investigative journalism. Big story I have been working on since I got back."

"Ok. I get it. Just… don't get into too much trouble. I don't want any shady guys knocking on my door. I am sure you understand."

"Thanks Takemi-san. It means a lot." He said as he put his t-shirt back on.

"Please, we're both adults. Call me Tae."

"Great… Tae." He said, smiling a little.

"And… I guess I can give you something for the pain. Nothing prescription, but it's a good natural pain killer."

"Thanks, but… I don't have much money." He said, frowning, "I don't suppose there's another set of clinical trials I can do?"

"I'm afraid not, but I'm sure we can figure something out." She said, looking him up and down. He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that, but he knew he would need medicine, especially if Igor was right about some evil coming. "But you have to get back to the cafe. I'll call you later."

She passed him an orange bottle of pills. He took them, and thanked her once again.

"Listen, Tae," He said, remembering the pictures of Sojiro's record, "I need another favor. This one's a lot smaller. Do you have a printer I can use?"

**Part 4**

"Sakamoto, Are you even listening?" Ryuji's boss, Abe-san, said in their business meeting, "As I was saying, sales have gone down, and each of us have to do our part to double the workload in our departments."

Ryuji really hadn't been listening. Why the hell would he? He hated this boring-ass job, and he hated being manager of the sales department. The only reason he was doing it still was because it brought him good money, and, more importantly, excellent health insurance.

His mother, who had done nothing but love and take care of him his whole life, was sick. She had brain cancer, and without proper treatment soon, would be beyond help. She had taken care of him through thick and thin, so now it was his turn.

That's why he worked this damn job. The insurance was great, even for something as tedious and expensive as brain surgery. But it wasn't enough. That's why he lived in a cheap-ass apartment and ate cheap-ass food, and drank cheap-ass beer on the weekends.

But, it definitely _was _a plus that they let him dye his hair blonde here too, despite the professional environment.

_Mom will be going into surgery next week exactly…_ He thought as he stared out the window of the office building.

"Alright, you all are dismissed. Except you, Sakamoto-san. I need to talk to you." Abe-san said. Everyone got up from the table except for Ryuji.

"I'm sorry I wasn't paying much attention, sir." Ryuji said, looking down at his feet. His shoes were untied. _Weird._

"It's fine, Ryuji." Abe-san replied. He was an older man with thinning gray hair and a fine white beard. His face was wrinkly and, though he appeared very professional, his eyes gleamed kindly with the light of one's golden years. He probably wasn't far from retiring. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. It's just my mom. Little worried about her, that's all."

Abe-san came and sat in the chair next to Ryuji. He put his hand on his shoulder.

"I am just worried about you, my friend." He told him, "You are skinnier than when you first started working here. It's not my place to talk to you about your personal life, but your mother being in the hospital is starting to affect your work."

"Well, I gotta do it." Ryuji said plainly, though he felt himself holding back tears.

"Listen, Ryuji-san, you have worked here for a few years now. Haven't missed a single day, even worked every holiday. I think you should take a vacation. Just until your mom get's out of surgery."

"Abe-san, I need the money."

"I understand, my friend, but you also need to rest. Because I manage you, I think I could still get you half pay for three days. You should have at least the other four saved up from all your time here."

"I only have three. I used one monday to go to a funeral."

"Tell you what: Forget the half paid days. I am going to get in trouble for this, but I am going to give you four extra days of paid vacation. Take care of yourself, my friend. Consider this… a bonus, from the company. For all your diligence."

"Abe-sand I can't-"

"Yes, Sakamoto-san, you _can_ and you _will._ I will not take no for an answer. Here, I will even give you this."

He pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check for 20,000 yen on it.

"Abe-san I really can't. That's _your _money."

"Consider it an early holiday bonus then! Take it! I insist. Take a girl out on a fancy date with it."

Ryuji didn't know how to react, but how he did act was not very professional. He hugged Abe-san. The older man hugged back.

As Ryuji exited the building, he felt as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He had four days of freedom.

And it felt good, even though he wasn't sure what to do with it.


	8. Chapter 8: Shadow in Yongen-Jaya

**Part 1**

The first thing Makoto did was check her phone. It was later than she usually woke up, but she had been given the day off after her attack yesterday, so that was no worry to her. In fact, to check the time wasn't even the reason she had checked her phone. She was hoping she had received a reply from Ren.

But she had not. She was a little bummed out by that, but she figured he was sleeping, considering that it _was _really late last night when she texted.

Despite her glum attitude, she decided to call Ezume.

"Hey!" He answered cheerfully, "How are you, sunshine?"

"Fine." She told him, "Just woke up."

"That's good. Listen, about last night…"

"Oh, don't worry about it," She assured her boyfriend, "it's water under the bridge."

She had been mad at him last night because he didn't fully believe her about her attack. He _did _believe that she had been attacked, but he, like all the others at the station, didn't believe that her attacker had been killed and his body vanished. She had been angry at first, but now she had a hard time believing that story herself. But she _had _been attacked by a shadow. She _knew _that. How it got there, she didn't know. She thought that when they destroyed the metaverse, all that had disappeared completely.

_Maybe I did imagine it…_

But the bruises on her body said otherwise.

"Anyways… did they catch that guy yet?" She asked him.

"What guy?"

"The one who broke into the precinct last night?"

"Oh him! No, after he jumped out the window, we completely lost trace of him. Guy was professional too. Like, some kinda jewel thief out of a movie. We can't even figure out what he stole."

"Wait, what do you mean 'profesional?' Like, what did he do?"

"He had smoke bombs, like out of a comic book. He picked a third story window. Dude even put oil on the hinges of the closet he entered through so that it wouldn't creak when he opened it. Like, he was straight out of a movie or something."

"Wow… that's nuts… Any prints or anything?"

"No. The only trace he left was a broken smoke bomb, wiped clean, and the oil he put on the hinges."

"Well, what kind of oil is it? Maybe we can track it to it's source?"

"Mako-chan, I think you're a work-a-holic." Ezume joked. She smiled.

"Just tell me." She insisted kindly.

"It's just vegetable oil. Like the kind you'd buy at any store. Didn't know it worked the same as any other oil."

"Damn… so there's no leads."

"Nope. The officer who almost caught him only saw him from behind and never heard his voice. I guess we _technically _don't even know if _he _is a _he_."

"I'm just wondering why this whole thing sounds familiar to me. Is there any other crimes that match his M.O.?"

"Too little evidence." Ezume told her, "Like I said, we can't even figure out what he stole."

"Alright… Just let me know if anything else comes up."

"I will. But you probably won't be put on the case. It will be some detective."

"I know. It just seems odd, that's all."

"I know, babe." Ezume laughed, "Hey I left some money on the counter. You should go get something to eat."

"I think I'll go get curry. You want me to bring some home?"

"Yeah, sounds great!" He said happily, "Listen, I gotta go. But I love you!"

"Love you too."

As they hung up the phone, she felt weirdly calm. Last night had been their most heated argument in a long time, and even though she wasn't mad anymore, she just still felt… wrong. Like she wasn't with who she thought she was with.

She pushed the thought from her mind. She was _with_ Ezume. And, until Ren had come along, she had been _happy _with him. Sure, she would have cheated on him last night, had Ren responded. She would have ran to him, made the best love with him, and lived happily ever after with him, but now, in the morning, she knew that she and her boyfriend could get through this.

Of course… he hadn't proposed yet…

_Oh God… why hasn't he __**proposed**_ _yet? _

The thought filled her with dread, as she thought back to their last actual date, which had been more than a month ago. _More than a month ago?_

A thought that had never occurred to her raced into her mind.

Was Ezume _cheating _on her?

_No Makoto, you can't think like that. Don't give yourself excuses. Of course he's not cheating on you…_

Of course, she really didn't know if he was or not. And that scared her. Things started to make sense. Sometimes he didn't come home until late at night. Sometimes he would sneak out of bed because 'work called.' They hadn't been on a real date in such a long time, and, finally, he hadn't _proposed_.

She tried to push that from her brain, think about how happy he had made her in the year of their relationship. But she couldn't, because it gave her an excuse to cheat on him with Ren.

Of course, maybe that's what she needed. _Yeah, that's exactly what I need._ If she cheated on Ezume with Ren, she would realize how well she clicked with Ezume. She would realize that there were no sparks with Ren when he kissed her, that their love wouldn't be filled with passion and there would be no actual love there. Then she would go running back to Ezume and he would be none the wiser.

_Maybe I shouldn't go get curry today._ She thought. She was just giving herself excuses. It was just a crush, she told herself.

But that didn't stop her from thinking about it, about him.

**Part 2**

"Bro," Ryuji said as he walked into Cafe LeBlanc, "This place is _empty_."

Ren smiled, and put the prints of Sojiro's record into a book he was 'reading,' then closed the book.

"Ryuji, how are you, pal?" He said as he hugged his old friend briefly.

"You know what? I actually am doing pretty great." The blonde boy responded, "My boss forced me to go on vacation, and so far it feels great."

"Really?" Ren asked, "Why was that?"

"I dunno," His friend lied, "Something about 'company policy.' I haven't taken a day off in a while."

"_You_ haven't taken a day off in a while?" Ren smiled jokingly, "Wow, is this the same Ryuji Sakamoto that I know?"

"Hey, what can I say? I grew up."

"Your hair is still blonde." Ren laughed at him.

"So's Ann's, but I don't see you saying anything about _that_!" Ryuji defended himself, but laughing as he did.

"Ann's is _natural_, yours isn't!"

"Yeah it is! _Naturally _dyed! I used my own hands and everything!"

The two friends laughed. Ren patted Ryuji on the shoulder.

"Let me get you some coffee, Ryuji." He told him, "Then we can talk."

After pouring Ryuji, he poured himself one and the two sat down in a booth.

"Dude," Ryuji said, noticing the bags under Ren's eyes, "No offense, but you look like shit. Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Yeah, I got some." He lied to his friend, "I am just having a little trouble. Jet lag, and such. I am used to having it. I am sleeping better though."

"How many cups of coffee have you made yourself today?"

"Um… This is my third… no fourth, I think."

The two boys laughed and sipped their coffee.

"I'm honestly surprised at you, Ryuji." Ren said, "Last time I was here, you didn't like coffee."

"I don't." He said, smiling, "I just tolerate it. Working in an office building will do that to you. I was hoping you had some soda or something."

"Sorry, I haven't had time to go shopping yet. Probably on Sunday or something."

Ryuji opened his mouth to speak again, but they heard a noise outside. A loud, banging noise.

"Was that a gunshot?"

"No, it was way too quiet." Ren told him, "We should check it out."

Ren pulled a large carving knife from the knife block on the counter and shoved it in the back of his belt.

Outside, there was a man digging through a trash can he had kicked over. He was large, and unusually tall, dressed in all black clothing with a black hoodie covering the back of his head.

"Hey!" Ryuji shouted, "What the hell man? You dumped all the trash everywhere!"

The man stood up and turned around. He wore a mask that looked like an Oni. He bolted towards Ryuji at unearthly speed and grabbed him around the throat with one hand.

"Ren, help!" He said as he was lifted up into the air. He tried to punch and kick, but the shadow's arms were too long.

Ren pulled the knife from his belt and lunged towards the shadow. He ducked behind it and stabbed it in the middle of his back. It let out an otherworldly noise and dropped Ryuji.

Ryuji fell to his knees, but was quickly back up, snatching the mask off of the shadow. The shadow turned into a blob, then formed itself into the form of a small woman with wings, a pixie.

"Not fair!" She screeched, as she blasted him back with a wind blast. Ren jumped over the Pixie, bringing his knife down on her as he did. She screeched, fell to the ground, and disappeared.

"You ok?" Ren asked, panting. His shoulder ached. He would have to get some stronger drugs from Takemi next time he saw her.

"Yeah, but what the hell was that? A shadow? Are we in a damn palace right now?"

"I don't think so. We destroyed the Metaverse, remember?"

"Yeah but that was a _shadow!_"

"Ryuji, I know!" Ren said back, sounding a little frustrated. _This _was proof that what Igor had said was true.

"Wait, what do you mean, you _know_?" Ryuji asked. Ren shook his head. He hadn't wanted to get anyone else involved.

"Come on." He told him as he opened the door to the Cafe, "I'll explain everything I know inside."

**Part 3**

"Wait, so you're telling me that Yaldebaoth might come back, or something _stronger,_ and you had no intention of telling _any _of us?"

"I told Morgana and Futaba, but they thought it was just a dream."

"Dude, you know that the only reason we were able to beat Yaldebaoth was because we worked together. As a _team_."

"What do you want me to do, Ryuji?" Ren said, louder than he first intended with it, "Do you want me to ask everyone to put their lives on hold? Ann has a movie to film, Makoto has a boyfriend and a great job. Yusuke's a famous artist and Maru is CEO of Okumura foods. You have a good job too and your mom to take care of!"

Ryuji was silent. He had to control his anger.

"Look, Ren," He said calmly after a moment, "We are a team. Any of us would gladly put our lives on hold for you."

"I know Ryuji." Ren replied, this time more calmly, "That's why I didn't want you to get involved."

Ryuji wanted to say something else, but Ren's phone went off. He looked at it, sighed, and stood up.

"I'm sorry. It seems like I'm avoiding this conversation, but I really need to go. You can stay as long as you need, but just lock up when you're done."

Ren left the cafe without another word, leaving Ryuji there alone.

**Part 4**

"Mm… It has been a while since I've had sex." Tae Takemi said between heavy breaths, "That was nice. Thanks for doing this."

Ren gave her a little half smile as they both laid on her bed. It had been nice (and it had been a while for him too), but he had a lot on his mind right now.

"Let me check out your shoulder while you're here. Sit up."

Ren sat up in her bed, leaning his back against the wall. She crawled next to him, and sat on her knees on his side. He felt a little awkward, considering the fact that they were both still naked, but she didn't seem to care.

It was hard to believe she was in her 30's though. Her body was better than most of the girls he'd slept with before. Not that he had a _ton _of experience.

"It's already looking a lot better." She told him, "Medicine been helping with the pain?"

"Yeah, a little." He replied, "Would've liked something stronger."

She looked him in the eyes, and it felt like she was staring into his soul.

"I can get that for you." She finally said, "Hey, I just need to make sure, because I don't want to get you in trouble, but you're not seeing anyone right now, right? Like, you aren't cheating by doing this?"

Instantly, Ren thought of Ann. But he was pretty sure nothing was happening on that front, considering she hadn't even done so much as text him since he last saw her. Maybe the rumors about her and that actor were correct? He _did _have a couple of sources in Hollywood he could call to find out, but part of him didn't want to know.

"No." He told her, "I am not seeing anyone right now."

"Good." She said, smiling, "I mean, don't get me wrong, this is purely carnal in nature, I don't want to date you or anything, but I didn't want you to break anyone's heart. We could've made another arrangement if that was the case."

"No, it's fine." He said, sadder than he wanted to sound.

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Ren, what's wrong?" She asked finally. He figured she was fearing that he wasn't comfortable with this arrangement. Truth is, he wasn't 100% ok with it, _but_ it was nice to get his dick wet, especially after so much time.

"Tae, it's not you, I promise." He assured her, "It's just… Well, I'm having issues with one of my friends."

"You want to talk about it? I mean, it's ok if you don't, I _definitely _understand, but it's good to have a confidant, right?"

He nodded and laid back down onto the bed, this time closer to her. She pressed herself up against him, and traced a fingernail up and down his chest. He'd be lying if he said this wasn't nice. Her body was warm and soft against his side.

"I just have a friend named Ryuji. He's my best friend, but he found out I was keeping a secret from him to protect him and our other friends and now he's upset."

Ren thought that covered it without giving away too much information. Though he knew Takemi pretty well, he was sure that the less people who knew what he was doing, investigating Sojiro's death and trying to stop the end of the world, the better. Safer for him that way, as well as safer for them.

"Wow, that's very… vague." She said, rolling onto her chest next to him.

"Trust me," He assured her, "it wouldn't help explain the situation if I gave you more details."

"Well… have you tried apologizing?" She asked, cuddling in close to him, "Sorry, I'm cold."

"You're fine. Yeah, I think I tried apologizing, but he just won't listen."

"Well, how did you say it?"

"I said something like… 'Ryuji, I'm sorry but you have to understand, I-'"

"Nope, that's not gonna work." She laughed, "Don't give excuses, just apologize. What's more important, your friendship or whatever this secret is?"

"Ryuji, obviously, but-"

"Nope." She said, covering his lips with one finger. Surprisingly, it really turned him on. He couldn't stop himself from looking down at her chest. She giggled. "Listen, Ren, you're a great guy. Your problem is that for you, everything needs an explanation. Not everyone's like that. Some people just want to know that you recognize what you did was wrong and that you feel bad about it."

"But how am I supposed to do that?" He asked her, still peeking down at her chest every so often. She was basically on top of him at this point, which didn't help.

"Just say you're sorry, and let him do what he does. Don't explain, just let him… for example, hit you or something."

"You're right…" Ren admitted. He slid his hands on her hips. She smiled and laughed.

"I know you're ready to go at it again, but I'm tired as hell. Sorry to kill the mood, but we aren't lovers. Let's get dressed, and I'll get you that stronger medication."


End file.
